Jessica Dubroff

In the wake of the tragic deaths of 7-year-old pilot Jessica Dubroff, her father and flight instructor, we must strongly urge the FAA to set a minimum age limit on piloting a plane. To place a young child behind the wheel of an airplane is an irresponsible endangerment not only to the child and passengers, but also to all unwitting innocents on the ground below.

On April 11, 1689, William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of England. In 1814 Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as emperor of France and was banished to the island of Elba. In 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany. In 1951 President Harry Truman relieved Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his commands in the Far East. In 1968 President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, a week after the...

Before 7-year-old Jessica Dubroff died last April while trying to become the youngest pilot to fly cross-country, her mother extolled the virtues of letting her three children learn from experience rather than formal schooling. Lisa Hathaway still holds those beliefs for her son Joshua, 9, and her daughter Jasmine, 3. But she has decided to comply with a California state law that requires children to be enrolled in school -- and is looking for a private school...

On April 11, 1814 Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as emperor of France and was banished to an island off northwestern Italy. In 1898 President William McKinley asked Congress to declare war against Spain; fighting ended the following year. In 1921 Iowa became the first state to impose a cigarette tax. In 1929 Popeye debuted as a comic strip character. In 1945 the U.S. Army liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. In 1951 President...

Jessica Dubroff, age 7, died on Thursday of child abuse. It wasn't the usual kind of child abuse, a beating or a scalding or a suffocation or a brain-damaging shaking. It wasn't at the hands of a drugged-out mother or an angry father or a mother's boy friend in a dysfunctional home. No one had called a state's child protective services on her behalf. But her father is to blame for Jessica's death, however well-intended his actions. That's why what he did to Jessica--ostensibly for...

On April 11, 1689, William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of England. In 1814 Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as emperor of France and was banished to the island of Elba. In 1921 Iowa became the first state to impose a cigarette tax. In 1929 Popeye made his debut as a comic strip character. In 1945 the Army's 80th Division liberated Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany, where 56,000 had died. In 1951 President Harry...

A judge Thursday ended a bitter dispute over the life insurance proceeds of Jessica Dubroff, the 7-year-old killed while trying to become the youngest pilot to fly cross-country. The judge's decision followed the wishes of Lloyd Dubroff, the girl's father, who wanted Jessica's stepmother and mother to evenly divide $3 million in life insurance policies on the child. Jessica, her father and a flight instructor were killed in the 1996 crash just after takeoff during a storm...

By Jane Meredith Adams. Special to the Tribune. Tribune news services contributed to this report | April 12, 1996

The driving rain and snow was so heavy Thursday morning that some residents who lived near the Cheyenne, Wyo., airport could not see out their windows. But to 7-year-old Jessica Dubroff, buckled into a red booster seat that allowed her to see out of the cockpit of the small plane she was piloting across America, the downpour was an exhilaration. "Do you hear the rain?" the excited 7-year-old girl asked her mother in a pre-takeoff telephone call from the runway. "Do you hear the rain?"

Yo, pass the yogurt: The Agriculture Department is allowing schools to substitute yogurt for meat at lunch. Supporters say this offers a healthy choice to kids who don't eat meat or drink milk. Meat industry officials predicted schools would stick with meat because it's cheaper. Make an impression: Jeremy Anderson, 9, of Las Vegas got people riled up last week when he scrawled on an unfinished sidewalk. Police picked up Jeremy at school, took him in and booked him. He...

Federal Aviation Administrator David Hinson is sending reminders to flight instructors that it's their job to prevent accidents like the one that killed 7-year-old Jessica Dubroff. Hinson endorsed a bill to ban record flights by people too young to hold a pilot's license. FAA officials said later he also agreed with Transportation Secretary Federico Pena's suggestion to ban youngsters from making takeoffs and landings. Testimony before the House Transportation Aviation Subcommittee on...

JonBenet Ramsey's image has become almost as familiar to us as the child's down the block. Close your eyes, and you can see her dressed in any one of several outfits from plaid jumper and beret to Folies-Bergere-style headdress and sequined leotard, her blond hair teased, her big, blue eyes opened wide, lashes heavy with mascara. Most of the images are grotesque and not just because we know she was horribly murdered. We are compelled to look at her, like some sideshow freak, even when we want...

Before 7-year-old Jessica Dubroff died last April while trying to become the youngest pilot to fly cross-country, her mother extolled the virtues of letting her three children learn from experience rather than formal schooling. Lisa Hathaway still holds those beliefs for her son Joshua, 9, and her daughter Jasmine, 3. But she has decided to comply with a California state law that requires children to be enrolled in school -- and is looking for a private school...